A defect in Marco expression contributes to systemic lupus erythematosus development via failure to clear apoptotic cells.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by the production of numerous antinuclear autoantibodies and inflammatory mediators. The BXSB mouse strain is an excellent model of the disease. Previous work has determined a number of important disease susceptibility intervals that have been isolated in separate congenic strains.

CD40 can costimulate human memory T cells and favors IL-10 secretion.

Optimal proliferation of T cells, although initiated via ligation of the CD3/TCR complex, requires additional costimulatory signals. While the most well-defined in vitro pathway of costimulation is via the B7 family of molecules, a large body of data clearly demonstrates an in vivo role for the CD40/CD154 pathway in transplantation, autoimmunity and allergy. We have examined the role of CD40 as an independent costimulatory molecule by generating a panel of transfected human fibroblasts expressing DR1 with either CD80, CD86 or CD40.